Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Thursday said the Taiwan authorities' attempt to join the United Nations was "ridiculous" and "doomed to fail."

Liu's remarks came after China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya in his capacity as the rotating president of the UN Security Council in July rejected the Taiwan authorities' application forwarded by representatives of Swaziland and the Solomon Islands to the UN on July 31.

In his reply to the representatives of Swaziland and the Solomon Islands, Wang rejected and returned the Taiwan authorities' application for "UN Membership under the name of Taiwan."

According to the UN Charter and relevant provisions in the rules of procedure of the Security Council and the General Assembly, only sovereign states can apply for UN membership, Liu said.

"Any attempt to challenge the UN Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and the one-China policy upheld by the international community as a whole is unpopular and doomed to fail," said Liu.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2007)